The company is owned by Chinese investors and the China infant formula market has been the central focus of its plant since opening in late 2013.

It sources product from major dairy co-operative Murray Goulburn, whose own brand of infant formula was the only other local label apparently successful in gaining Chinese registration.

Mr Thomas says Australian Dairy Park was able to spend three months preparing for its audit prior to the Chinese Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA) issuing its worldwide registration of infant formula companies on May 1.

“The actual audit itself was a fairly intense one-day audit. It was really three months of solid work before the audit,” said Mr Thomas.

If you want to be in the Chinese market, those are the rules that are imposed by the importing country.

General manager of Australian Dairy Park, Ken Thomas.

“So the period between the start of this year and March was primarily not spent on manufacture but on preparing ourselves for registration.”

Mr Thomas acknowledges it would be difficult for a more established infant formula company to allocate the time and resources to prepare for the registration process.

“The difficulty for existing plants is not only the audit process but the facility itself.

“You have to show that you have hygiene standards that meet the Chinese requirements,” said Mr Thomas.

“A lot of infant formula manufacturers that have been around for a while may not meet those hygiene requirements.”

He cites traceability as one of the key requirements of the new Chinese regulations.

“You have to show that you have very, very robust quality systems in place and you have to show that there is a link between your manufacturer, the brand that you’re packing and the importer in China as well, so you have full traceability.

“If you want to be in the Chinese market, those are the rules that are imposed by the importing country.

“You have to make a decision whether you really you want to be in that market or not.”